Biology at the Cutting Edge

by Debbie Leyland

From the latest “Cancer Scares” and “revolutionary drug treatments” to the ethics of vaccination and data analysis, biological issues are hot topics in the news.  Media focussed contemporary science topics fascinate pupils, and therefore have the potential to motivate and engage them in the classroom.

Fetus with DNA umbilical cord

As we all know, once we are out of university it is difficult to keep up to date with emerging technology and cutting edge research, which is why Science Learning Centres are working in partnership with research scientists to develop courses in the Cutting Edge Science suite. These courses, which are supported by Research Councils UK, offer the chance to look in depth at topics which are emerging and increasingly being seen in the examination specifications. Topics  such as;

• drug abuse
• cell and cell structure
• you and your genes
• circulatory disease
• scientific ethics

The courses  have direct relevance to teachers involved in the delivery of secondary science, including post-16 programmes and they actively support the teaching of How Science Works.

In July 2013, Science Learning Centre North West is working with four active research scientists to focus on developing research within the Genetics and Health arenas.  Scientists; Dr Rebecca Elliot, Professor Martin Lowe, Dr Matt Hickman, and Dr Elizabeth Cartwright will be joining Debbie Leyland to discuss their work, ethical procedures, careers and how this can be translated into the classroom. Teachers interested in how they can use real life examples for the effective delivery of science content, as well as deepening their own understanding  of how science works, including controversies and ethical issues, should explore Science Learning Centres full range of RCUK supported Cutting Edge Science courses.

1. Cutting Edge Biology in the North West

1. The full range of Cutting Edge Science courses across the UK.

Thanks to funding from Research Councils UK; delegates from state maintained  schools and colleges in England can apply for Bursaries to attend Cutting Edge Science Courses by contacting their local Science Learning Centre.

Simulating surgery

By Vaughan Lewis

Have you ever wondered how you would react in a life critical situation? Would you be able to use your scientific knowledge, team work and decision making skills to react quickly and save a life? Do you and your students know what happens after a medical team arrives on the scene of a stabbing or heart attack? How do they get the best outcome for the patient and what happens once the doors of the ambulance close?

Professor Roger Kneebone presents the ENTHUSE Lecture 2012

At the recent Annual ENTHUSE Lecture, Professor Roger Kneebone, Professor of Surgical Education at Imperial College London, looked at the life-like simulations of these very scenarios he and his team have been creating. By designing very life-like simulations the closed world of medical treatment can be opened up to students and the general public giving everyone the opportunity to see, and be inspired by, the work of medical teams from ambulance crews to surgeons and GPs.

Roger’s fascinating talk explained how simulations can bridge the gap between medical practitioners and a population that never sees inside operating theatres unless something goes wrong. His simulations demonstrate the wide range of skills and abilities needed by surgeons, not normally associated with science based careers. This can be a real stimulus to young people especially those who are not naturally drawn to scientific studies. Who would expect performance skills to be so important or the ability to communicate quickly, confidently and precisely to be some of the key skills needed by medics?

Discussion following the ENTHUSE Lecture

The questions and answer session and reception following the lecture gave everyone a chance to discuss Roger’s thoughts and look at how they could take some of his ideas away to use back in the classroom.

If you would like your pupils to see Roger and his team in action you can register for the Big Bang Fair, to be held on Thursday14 and Friday and 15 March at ExCeL in London.

Project ENTHUSE is a partnership supported by the Wellcome Trust, the Department for Education, AstraZeneca, AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust, BAE Systems, BP, General Electric Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, Rolls-Royce, Vodafone and Vodafone Group Foundation.

These organisations have come together to bring about inspired science teaching through the continuing professional development of teachers of science across the UK. The principal means by which the ENTHUSE Charitable Trust does this is by providing ENTHUSE Award bursaries to teachers to enable them to attend continuing professional development courses delivered by the National Science Learning Centre. Through this support pupils are more inspired by and engaged in their science education.

Amgen-Bruce Wallace Programme; bringing real life biotechnology to the classroom.

By Kate Mouncey

The Science Learning Centre East of England has been working closely with partners, the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, the Teacher Scientist Network (TSN) and Science Learning Centre London, to bring a high quality US education programme to the UK. The Amgen Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Amgen Corporation, a US biotechnology company with drug development operations in Cambridge and Uxbridge in the UK. As a regional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) employer, Amgen is keen to promote links with local communities and engage schools and students with the science that they are involved in.

The Amgen Foundation provided a large grant to facilitate training for teachers and technicians in three hubs; Cambridge, Norwich and Uxbridge. Following the training, schools were then eligible to borrow high grade laboratory equipment and consumables to carry out inspirational practical work in lessons. The practical work follows the real life drug development processes undertaken at Amgen. This includes restriction digestion, ligation and gel electrophoresis as well as transformation of E.coli. The quality of the equipment and consumables involved, worth over £20,000, has created a real ‘wow’ factor for the students involved. One teacher said;

“Interacting with industry was exciting. The equipment is current and first rate and gave a real feel for what it is like working in biotechnology. They see this stuff on the news and now they say ‘I’ve done that’. What could be better educationally?”

Some schools are reporting that students have changed their minds about higher education choices following participation in the practical work, choosing to study Biological sciences and specifically biotechnology. Others have extended their work through the Extended Project Qualification.

The programme is now being implemented by 40 schools in Uxbridge, Cambridge and Norwich and we hope to extend the offer in 2013. For more information and updates, keep an eye on the Science Learning Centre website.

The Science Learning Centre West Midlands also run Industry Study tours, in particular their Materials Masterclass in July 2013 is run in conjunction with Rolls-Royce and the University of Birmingham.

A big collection of free materials to support triple science teachers (and more to come)

By James de Winter

In recent weeks you will probably have seen details and information about the various types of support and training that is available for those teaching triple science GCSEs.  To add to this support, I can offer a place to go for free resources and materials that have been developed and used by teachers across the country. You may be familiar with the National STEM Centre Website  and its wonderful eLibrary but did you know that there is also a community part of the site where you can now get lots of free materials produced, trialled and refined by teachers to support your teaching of the units across all three triple science subjects as well as a place to share ideas and discuss issues online?

My job as manager and moderator of the Triple Science Communities is to be as nice to you as possible, finding and sharing things that may make your lives easier as well as trying to answer any questions. To start things off, I have created three resource community groups, one for each of the science subjects and added a whole load of materials for teaching. These are a combination of activities and worksheets, lesson plans, slideshows, teacher notes as well as other things that I hope you will find useful.

Inside the three subject community groups I have created a separate topic for the main content areas in that subject that are covered in the triple science extension modules. Use the links below to have a look and a rummage around and see what is there, no need to even log in to browse. You’ll need to log in to the National STEM Centre  to download anything but it only takes a minute or two and it may save you much more than that in planning time. I could put links to each of the sections that are included but it’s a bit dull and if it is in your triple science course then there is a section there, I promise.

Physics 

Chemistry

Biology

I have just finished uploading several hundred files produced by teachers working on the previous specifications. Whilst a few things have changed in the recent course revisions, much of this is still relevant and worth a look. In the coming months these groups will expand with more content and we’d be delighted if you felt happy to uploaded your own files as well as commenting upon what is there. I do really value the views of those who will be using these resources on a daily basis. Also, feel free to contact me if you are looking for something that I might be able to track down and upload to the community, or indeed if you have any questions – my email is j.dewinter@slcs.ac.uk 

Whilst you are there, drop in and have a look at the Triple Science Eye Community group. This has a more science staff room feel and is a place for any questions. Whether you are a teacher, technician or head of department, chances are that if you have a problem relating to triple science, someone has solved it already. So have a read, make a post or answer someone else’s questions and I’ll try and reply a quickly as I can as well.

Finally if you are one of those people who are looking at the options for introducing triple science into your school you may also want to watch our triple science case study videos on YouTube.

How fresh are your fruits? – A gas measurement exercise

By Richard Needham

This is a simple exercise involving measuring gases, which reveals some surprising secrets. It can give rise to interesting discussions around what we mean as scientists by the term ‘living’.

You can do this activity at any level in school – the data you collect could be used:

• Key Stage 1 – as a way of classifying fruits

• Key Stage 2 – what we mean by living and non-living

• Key Stage 3 – measuring respiration rates

• Key Stage 4 – planning investigations and photosynthesis

• Post-16 – investigating the effect of variables on biochemical reactions

I collected the data shown here at home in the kitchen one wet Sunday, so no special facilities are needed. I used a plastic box with two holes in the lid – one for a carbon dioxide sensor and one for an oxygen sensor. Mrs N kindly provided a couple of unripe avocado pears, which just fitted inside the box. I was surprised at how much carbon dioxide they released within a few minutes.

Measuring the respiration of an avocado

The graph below shows just how quickly the atmosphere inside the box changes. Note the gradients of the lines are difficult to compare as oxygen is measured as a percentage, whilst carbon dioxide is measured in parts per million.

Changes to oxygen gas (%) and carbon dioxide gas (ppm) over 60 minutes with single avocado

So are avocados unique? No they are not, as all the fruits I tested absorbed oxygen and gave out carbon dioxide. Some are far more active than others. For example my bananas absorbed oxygen three times faster than avocados. Grapes were slowest, again a result that surprised me as they have a huge surface area, and thin skins. When I measured gas exchange in grapes there was hardly any change shown after ten minutes. In the chart below, the data point for grapes is partially hidden by ‘apples’.

Gas exhange comparisons in fruits

Equipment used

1. Vernier bio chamber, with gaseous oxygen and carbon dioxide sensors attached to a laptop via a Labquest mini USB interface.

1. Vernier Logger Pro software for data collection and initial analysis, and then used Google docs to produce the comparative graph of results.

You should get similar results with any oxygen and carbon dioxide sensors providing they measure gaseous concentrations rather than dissolved gas. A sandwich box or ice cream container could be used in place of a proprietary bio chamber.

Questions and opinions that arose in discussions with colleagues

• Surely fruits are dead once they are picked from the tree?

Several colleagues assumed that once picked, a fruit becomes ‘dead’. Thinking about the ripening processes that continue this cannot be the case. However, some people assumed that the gas exchange shown in the data was a consequence of microorganisms and rotting processes.

•  But a mushroom is not a fruit.

To a biologist a mushroom cannot be a fruit as it is not a plant and does not possess the organs required for fruit development. Sometimes mushrooms are described as fruiting bodies (of basidiomycete fungi) and so I have no hesitation in justifying their inclusion in this investigation. Interestingly the data point for the mushrooms lies well below the line expected if these results are to be explained by aerobic respiration alone.

•  Why don’t green ones produce oxygen?

I initially thought that green fruits would be photosynthesizing, and produce very different results to those shown here. There is no way to tell if photosynthesis did influence the results, unless some further work is carried out, such as repeating at different light intensities.

•  How did you make it a fair test?

Good question. I am against the notion that scientific investigations always need to be fair tests. I did use similar masses of fruit in each case (about 420g) but did not attempt to control the effects of surface area.

•  Why would you want to do this?

I enjoy finding out things that are not readily explained by the science we teach in school. It challenges me to think deeper about what I am teaching, and leads to better understanding through discussion with others. Using sensors is one way of uncovering new information, and often turns up results that are unexpected.

And of course: Well how do you explain the results?

I will leave that question for you to answer.

Some useful links to help with your answers or planning

SAPS – Respiration and photosynthesis made easy

STEM elibrary- photosynthesis

Comments

I would be interested to hear your explanations for these results.

I would also like to know if these results are repeatable.

Also, do you have any examples of other ways that sensors can turn up unexpected results?

Valentine’s Day Science Lesson Planning Ideas

by Mark Langley.

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, no doubt many of you will be looking for ideas to link your class activity with a day that may be on many of your students minds.  In our video, Mark Langley, one of the Professional Development Leaders at the National Science Learning Centre demonstrates how to make soft centred chocolates, using enzymes, which if created in a food safe environment, using food materials and following a scrupulous hygiene regime, can be eaten or given to loved ones.

This activity is a useful way to bring vocational science ideas into the classroom, and is a good demonstration of how science is applied in the real world – in this instance how creme eggs get their soft gooey centre.

If you have enjoyed this demonstration and are interested in learning about other ways and methods of delivering vocational science in your class activities, the network of Science Learning Centres has a range of vocational science courses going on across the country or you may be specifically interested in Mark’s own course BTEC and Applied: Successful pathways for 14 – 19 year Science.

You may also be interested in reading the National STEM Centre’s Valentine’s Blog.

Do you have any other Valentine’s Day Science activities you’d like to share?  How did they go?  How have you applied them?  Let us know and we can share them with others.

12 Christmas activities in the science classroom

Ho ho ho.  It’s the last few days of school before the Christmas holidays and your pupils are all far too excited to concentrate on anything other than the looming visit by the big man in red  – and the possibility of making snowmen.

So how do you keep their minds engaged on the subject, yet tie it in with the seasonally influenced lack of concentration in class?

We’ve come up with a range of websites and activities that should come in useful to provide stimulation, enrichment and entertainment before the school holidays, whilst retaining a modicum of scientific learning.

We’d also welcome your comments to share other resources or activities that you have used or found useful.  The #Asechat twitter feed on November 29 also provided other ideas.

12 Ideas for a Scientific Christmas Class

• Christmas Tree Buzzer Game

A great idea to get students to use what they know about electrical currents from Snapshot Science. Pupils use the templates and materials to build a fun game.  It’s showing its age with the requirement of a film canister (this may spark a discussion as to what one of these is!), an alternative may be a small yoghurt or cream pot.

• The Holly Leaf Miner investigation

The Holly Leaf Miner investigation.  The British Ecological Society has a number of investigations in this fieldwork booklet, page 40 outlines Ilkley Grammar School’s investigation into the Holly Leaf Miner.  An interesting way to get the class outside in the school grounds. Source: British Ecological Society

• Christmas Lights parallel and series circuits.

Why do the lights of a christmas tree not work if one of the bulbs is blown? Use this question as a great way to demonstrate practical electricity in real terms… and maybe get all your christmas lights sorted to go up on the tree!  The pupils could be encouraged to bring in their own faulty christmas lights to fix and test?  Another way of demonstrating how science affects us in all sorts of real life activities.

• Hold the front page

A  fun scientific history lesson here, to help understand the progression of scientific endeavours through a calendar of The Sun’s front pages: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/hold_ye_front_page/science/. Inspiration courtesy of our own Lynne Cooper and The Sun.

Firstly produce a list of selected front pages(12?) without dates from the website .

1 Get the pupils to put the front pages into possible date order, earliest first.

2 Then group the pages (into threes) and split the pupils into teams to find out more about their front page/pages either from the site or other websites.

3  Pupils are then asked to Post-it note the date order for the front pages as  a class . Or do something brilliant on your interactive white board so kids can move around the  front pages .

4. In true 12 day of Christmas fashion get the teams to give a one minute jingle (including everyone in the team) singing back information on the front page that they have been researching! In date order of course!

Can be as long or as short as required there are 60 front pages on the site all have more information and some have video clips and of course that are put into date order!

• Make your own real snow

With predictions of a white christmas receding for this winter here is an opportunity to turn this around and make your own real snow.  This page also has some interesting notes about how ski resorts plan and make their own snow, so a good opportunity to relate science to a real world application. Source: About.com

• Christmas chromatography -  Deck the Halls

Explore chromatography with your students by making a string of “light bulbs!” Students cut light bulb shapes out of coffee filters or filter paper and use water-soluble markers, pipe cleaners, and water to create a colorful display. Source: Science Spot and T.Trimpe of  Havana Junior High, Havana, IL. USA.

• Just one Father Christmas?

Who are Father Christmas’s ancestors? Are all British Mr Christmases descended from one ‘Father’ Christmas? After finding out how researchers plan to use DNA fingerprinting to discover the answer to this question, students play ‘Call My Bluff’ or sort true/false cards to reinforce their understanding of inheritance. Source: UPD8

• Santa’s sleigh race

A second offering from Snapshot Science is Santa’s Sleigh Race, which involves making a racing sleigh and then having a race.  The science in the race is to test whose sleigh travels the furthest and then use force diagrams to explain why the sleigh moves.

• Track Santa

In past years Norad (North American Aerospace Defense Command ) have tracked Santa Claus , a tradition started in 1955 after a Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number and put them through to the Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline.” It is now possible to follow it on google earth and google maps. http://www.noradsanta.org/

• Reindeer Quiz

Here is an easy quiz to help develop knowledge and understanding of Reindeer (as recently starred on David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet series).  Some quick facts can be found here to help answer the quiz questions.  Link courtesy of Enchanted Learning

• How to cook the perfect turkey

Another example from the very good UPD8 website.  This time looking at a combination of chemistry (the chemical reaction of cooking meat)  and physics (heat transferral)  using the cooking of a turkey. Source: UPD8

• Will Santa make it?

Santa is planning ahead for when humans colonise the rest of the Solar System – he may decide to move to another planet! In this fun activity pupils analyse planetary data to find which planet best satisfies Santa’s future requirements.

They then e-mail Santa to advise him of their decision and – if you wish – design a Christmas card to show why this planet is such a great place to spend Christmas, http://www.upd8.org.uk/activity/58/Santa-2025.html

We hope that some of these ideas prove useful in the run up to Christmas.  In a similar vein you may also be interested in two of our courses that will help enrich your teaching or provide you with new ways of demonstrating scientific principles:

Leading Science Enrichment

Demonstrations: Teachers and Technicians Inspiring Science Learning

What time is feeding time?

by Richard Needham

Here is a suggestion for an activity you can use with children of primary or

Birdfeeder experiment equipment

secondary age. It involves collecting information about when birds visit a bird feeder over a twelve hour period. I used it to find out if feeding patterns in garden birds are linked to changing light levels. You could also use the activity as a context for teaching about measurement and precision.

My set up used a force sensor attached to a hook. A bird feeder containing peanuts was suspended from the bottom of the sensor. This was connected to a logger which I wrapped in a plastic bag for weather protection.  The logger I used also collected data about light levels, temperature and sound. Data was collected from late afternoon until next morning.

First recording
Not many birds visited the feeder the first  evening, as you can see by the four points at the beginning of the top line of the graph (red), pictured below.

birdfeeder first results

However, there was a large increase in feeding activity the next morning. This is visible as many tall ‘spikes’ on the top right side of the red graph. The tallest ‘spike’ could be due to a larger bird visiting the feeder, or several birds landing on the feeder at the same time.

My colleague, who is a keen ornithologist, let me have his data for the masses of a large sample of garden birds. Over the last week my bird feeder has been visited by great tits (average mass 18g), blue tits (10g), house sparrows (25g), a nuthatch (20g) and an immature greater spotted woodpecker (60g). Chaffinches (20g) have tried to land on the feeder but do not have much success. I have tried using the data from this investigation to identify which species visited the feeder throughout the recording time. The force sensor measures up to 50N ± 1N; the light sensor measures up to 1000 lux. Would different sensors have given better results and made identification easier?

Second recording
The investigation was repeated the next evening which produced a similar graph, below, and prompted the question of what regulates the feeding times of the birds.

Birdfeeder graph 2

There seems to be a correlation with changing light intensity (blue line).  Research in to the work of Prof Alex Kacelnik FRS shows that there are many factors involved in regulating feeding behaviour, including day length and light intensity. Through this activity your pupils will be engaging with cutting edge science, as no one is yet quite sure how bird behaviour is influenced by the environment.

You can find out more about Kacelnik’s work by visiting the Royal Society website http://royalsociety.org/people/alejandro-kacelnik/
or  the Oxford University website
http://www.zoo.ox.ac.uk/staff/academics/kacelnik_a.htm

We’d love to see any results you have had from a similar experiment or thoughts on how this has worked for you.

Richard.

P.S I have now got this set up outisde the office window at the National Science Learning Centre -  more details to follow.